Shooting Stars

SHOOTING STARS

Newman Cheerleading proudly participates in The Sparkle Effect program that helps students across the country create cheerleading and dance teams in middle schools, high schools, and colleges that include students with disabilities. Active since the summer of 2009, the Comet Shooting Stars can be counted as one of the first Sparkle Effect squads and the first squad in Illinois. The Comet Shooting Stars have come a long way since the first organizational meetings! Team mother Ann Walters says about the early days, "In the beginning stages of the squad several of our Stars were very timid and unsure about being a part of the team. Since that time those children have become social butterflies."

The Shootings Stars continue to spread spirit on the sidelines of Newman Central's home games. In addition, they have performed at three cheerleading competitions, where their skill and enthusiasm netted standing ovations! The Shooting Stars have inspired not only their audiences but their entire community, as evidenced by the praise and recognition they have received in local publications, including The Daily Gazette and The Observer.

The Shooting Stars truly exemplify our motto, "When everyone cheers, everyone wins." Walters explains, "No words can explain what it means to our children to see the way the Dixon/Sterling/Rock Falls communities have welcomed and praised the inclusion, sportsmanship, teamwork and the countless smiles that the Shooting Stars and Newman Central Catholic High School Cheerleaders have put on the faces of all the fans in the crowd."

Would you like to join Newman's Shooting Stars? Click here to send an email, and Coach Susie LeMay will respond as soon as possible.

Click here to learn more about starting your own Sparkle Effect inclusive squad.